By using your head and anticipating where the easy money will be, a good online poker player can really cash in on the pending merger that will instantly create the 2nd largest poker site on the internet.

If you are unfamiliar with TAIN, the sites on this network include Eurolinx, Carlos Poker, Betsafe, the Tradesports poker room, and about a dozen smaller rooms. The site traffic is around 4,000 at peak times and around 1,000 during off-hours. Peak times are by the European clock, as 90% or more of the players are Europeans (with a large number of Norwegians and Swedes in the mix). So the most activity can be found during the day if you are a U.S. player. Almost all of the cash-game action on this network is at 6-Max NL, with most of it concentrated in the middle-limit games ($50 and $100 max buy-in). TAIN has not cut-off U.S. players and has no plans to do so.

Doyle?s Room on the other hand (which is the major player in the Tribeca network), is the fastest growing major online poker site and for good reason. it's a great place to play, offering a wide variety of games with good action across all of them. They are the only place that offers Badugi, an outstanding game that a good player can simply clean up at since very few people know how to play it well. They are absolutely adamant about not banning U.S. players, and as so figure to keep gaining market share. Pamela Anderson joined up with Tribeca recently by opening a site of her own in a much publicized ?marriage? to Doyle Brunson at a major poker tournament. At the time of this writing, during peak times Doyle?s room is hitting 8,000 players - which is more than triple the number they had six months ago.

When the TAIN players all get dumped unto Tribeca, Doyle?s Room will suddenly find itself the 2nd largest online poker site, behind only Stars and quickly passing the likes of Full Tilt, Ultimate Bet, Bodog, and Absolute. (In case you've been living in a cave, Party dropped off the map when they banned U.S. players in response to some new bogus U.S. legislation that affects bank transfers only.) They will not look back from there and are my pick to be the biggest site and pass Stars up within a couple of years.

So why exactly is there opportunity for increased profits here? Well besides the obvious notion that you want to be playing cards at the happening place where all the new players are going, there are two other compelling reasons. You make money at online poker by playing against weak competition, and also by getting the best deal on your rake. Combine these two elements and you are absolutely golden.

Now, Doyle?s Room doesn't have a great rake deal. it's reasonable, but not great, because they simply don't offer reload bonuses. In fact their current ad campaign states ?Our players suck, you should pay us a deposit bonus.? I love that ad, and I totally agree with it! Doyle?s room is easy pickin?s for some reason (especially the Pot Limit Omaha and Badugi tables), but in general I find weaker players on this site across all types of games than at the other major rooms. The 6-max NL games at Doyle?s are also among the most popular cash games in the house.

My other favorite place to play just happens to be Eurolinx on the TAIN network. I find that those Europeans in the 6-Max NL cash games are extremely easy to beat - definitely easier than their U.S. counterparts. Eurolinx does offer generous frequent reload bonuses in addition to a 30% rakeback deal beyond the monthly bonuses you clear. So here you have the best of both worlds. Eurolinx has promised to honor all it's pending bonus agreements after the merger, as they don't really know where they will stand after it takes place. So a smart player can get on board Eurolinx now and play for those bonuses, and when the merger takes place find themselves still able to finish them off with a greater variety of games to play in.

So how do you best take advantage of this situation?

1. Sharpen your short-handed NL game skills 2. Sharpen your Pot-Limit Omaha game 3. Learn to play Badugi

Do any or preferably all of the above, and get on either site and just start playing. Your bankroll will thank you.

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